MY 5 MORNING RITUALS THAT HELP ME TACKLE THE DAY IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION
MY 5 MORNING RITUALS THAT HELP ME TACKLE THE DAY IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION
Mark “Coach Rozy” Roozen
Those that know me know that I’m an early morning person. Most days I’m up by 3:30 am (some days earlier). I find that when I get up early, I can get a jump on the day – and in most cases I can get more done from 3:30 am to 5:30 am (when we start a lot of our training for the day) than I can for the rest of the day. It’s hard to find a one or two hour block of time that isn’t interrupted by emails,
texts, calls, folks popping in, training, connecting with coaches, athletes, vendors and taking care of “stuff”, as I call it, that makes up a day.
I’m not saying what I do is right, but this is what works for me. I’ve found that when I do these 5 morning habits, my rituals, it helps me to start the day right. It might not lead to a perfect day – but it helps me get on track.
- MAKE MY BED. I got this one from listening to William McRaven, Naval admiral who has commanded at every level within the Special Operations community. I saw his commencement speech he gave a the University of Texas in Austin on YouTube. What I can say about this one is – find 20 minutes and take a listen.
- MEDIATE/READ/LISTEN TO SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU THINK. Each morning I get up and I do something, that for me, helps me focus on what is possible, positive and productive. What I do, and this is for me, is listen to “Darren Daily”. This is from Darren Hardy, who wrote the Compound Effect and other leadership books. The Darren Daily is a 5-8 minute video and lesson on ideas and inspiration that help you to take action. It’s a way to kickstart your mind and to focus on what’s possible. I’m not saying you have to do this – but I know that when you take a few minutes to focus for the day; read, listen, or even take a few minutes to collect your thoughts, your day will be better!
- TAKE A SHOWER AND FINISH IT WITH 2-3 MINUTES OF AS COLD AS I CAN STAND. No matter what, I HAVE TO HAVE A SHOWER IN THE MORNING. Even if I shower the night before, or whatever I do – I start my day with a shower to get the body awake, get the nervous system going and prep for the day. One of the things that I do when I shower is to finish up the hot shower with taking as cold of a shower as I can stand (some days are easier than others!) And do a 2-3 minute cold shower each morning. This does a couple things for me; A) Gets me wide awake and has my body activated and ready for the day B) Starts my day off with doing something that isn’t always comfortable, easy or even days where I don’t want to do it – but do it anyway. C) Helps from what it does for the whole system! More on cold showers and ice baths down the road!
- PRINT OFF MY DAILY CALENDAR – REVIEW AND PREP FOR THE DAY. I have a calendar that is linked to my phone and my computer. When I put an event or put down something that I’ve scheduled, I have it at my finger tips. Usually I look at my schedule the night before, but I look it over in the morning and MAKE A HARD COPY that I have to look at. I have friends that give me grief and tell me that this is just overkill – since I have it on my phone and can pull up my day at a touch of a finger. But I find when I print it off, review it – make notes on what I will need for certain items; maybe it’s a workout and I need to put together a special program for an athlete, or I have some key points I want to bring up at the meeting I have at 10:00; that’s my time to review, prepare and redo, if needed, to help make the day run without as many bumps along with way!
- GET TO WORK, ORGANIZE MY ENVIRONMENT, HAVE SOME WATER! This sounds crazy, and I have folks ask me all the time, “Why don’t you sleep in another 30 minutes? Do you need to be to work hours before your first gig – wouldn’t 15 or 20 minutes be more than enough time?” They have a point, but for me, when things are set up; for me the facility is set up for the first group coming in to train, doors are unlocked, equipment is out, lights are on, folders are set out; I know things are in place to help those coming in to workout start their day off right! When everything is in place and ready to do, I sit down and have my first drink of water for the day. For me, I like flavored water – just because I’m not a coffee drinker, and I drink a lot of water during the day, having flavored water seems to help me start off right and drink more water during the day. (For a confession here – I am a HUGE tea drinker – unsweetened – but I think I keep McDonalds in business with all the $1.00 tea I buy! My goal in 2022 is to cut back on the tea/caffeine and drink more water. They say to drink 1/2 your body weight in water each day – and that’s my goal this year!
There you have it. It isn’t brain surgery. Not sure the world will come to an end if I don’t do these 5 daily routines. I just know for me, when I do all 5 (and sometimes things come up and I get to only 3 or 4), it helps to start the day on the right foot – and helps me to have a better day – and stay positive, on track and helps me start right to finish right.
Give it a try. Would love to hear what you think. Would also love to hear some of your morning routines. Please share them – you might be helping someone else ELEVATE 2 GREAT this year!
